The release of the initial installment of “The Twitter Files” late last week was reportedly compromised after the journalist responsible for releasing the files revealed Tuesday that a lawyer caught up in the controversy allegedly vetted the files before sending them to journalists.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk released internal company communications through journalist Matt Taibbi on Friday about the company’s censorship of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 presidential election and about how the platform removed content at the behest of the Democrat Party.
Contained in the batch of files, which Taibbi released in a lengthy Twitter thread, was an email from former Twitter Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker about how the company should handle the Hunter Biden laptop story.
“I support the conclusion that we need more facts to assess whether the materials were hacked,” Baker said in the email. “At this stage, however, it is reasonable for us to assume that they may have been and that caution is warranted. There are some facts that indicate that the materials may have been hacked, while there are others indicating that the computer was either abandoned and/or the owner consented to allow the repair shop to access it for at least some purposes. We simply need more information.”
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Taibbi failed to mention in his initial release that Baker was the former FBI general counsel involved in Russia-related investigations into former President Donald Trump.
The next installment of the Twitter files was supposed to happen over the weekend, but became delayed for a reason that was unknown at the time.
Taibbi now says that the reason for the delay was that it was discovered that Baker was responsible for vetting the files that were released to him and journalist Bari Weiss.
Musk immediately fired Baker upon learning the news. “In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today,” Musk tweeted.
Taibbi tweeted, “On Tuesday, Twitter Deputy General Counsel (and former FBI General Counsel) Jim Baker was fired. Among the reasons? Vetting the first batch of ‘Twitter Files’ – without knowledge of new management.”
“The process for producing the ‘Twitter Files’ involved delivery to two journalists (Bari Weiss and me) via a lawyer close to new management. However, after the initial batch, things became complicated,” Taibbi said. “Over the weekend, while we both dealt with obstacles to new searches, it was @BariWeiss who discovered that the person in charge of releasing the files was someone named Jim. When she called to ask ‘Jim’s’ last name, the answer came back: ‘Jim Baker.’”
“My jaw hit the floor,” says Weiss.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 6, 2022
“Baker is a controversial figure. He has been something of a Zelig of FBI controversies dating back to 2016, from the Steele Dossier to the Alfa-Server mess. He resigned in 2018 after an investigation into leaks to the press,” Taibbi continued. “The news that Baker was reviewing the ‘Twitter files’ surprised everyone involved, to say the least. New Twitter chief Elon Musk acted quickly to ‘exit’ Baker Tuesday.”
The news that Baker was reviewing the “Twitter files” surprised everyone involved, to say the least. New Twitter chief Elon Musk acted quickly to “exit” Baker Tuesday.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 6, 2022